Free to Play is a national fund delivered locally by community foundations, including the Rural Communities Foundation of Nova Scotia. It supports projects that help children spend more time playing outside – moving, exploring, taking healthy risks, and connecting with others in welcoming outdoor spaces.

In Nova Scotia, RCFNS is inviting eligible local organizations across rural communities to apply for this first intake. The focus is on outdoor, child-led play rather than structured sport or adult-directed programs, with an emphasis on equity, imagination, and curiosity.

The fund aims to:

• Increase everyday opportunities for outdoor play
• Reduce physical and social barriers that limit outdoor play
• Support children’s well-being, confidence, and healthy development
• Contribute to a long-term culture shift that values outdoor play as essential to childhood

Free to Play recognizes that outdoor play has declined due to more screen time, safety concerns, busy family schedules, and limited accessible spaces. It responds by investing in local projects and partnerships that create the time, space, and freedom children need to play on their own terms.

RCFNS will use a participatory approach for this intake. Applicants will help decide how funds are allocated across approved projects and will receive an honorarium for their time in allocation meetings.

Components of Outdoor Play Activities

Successful outdoor play projects typically include one or more of these elements:

Access to Outdoor Spaces and Materials: Ensure children have access to quality outdoor spaces along with materials that support play, like small loose parts, tools, and/or storage for equipment.

Training and Support: Provide opportunities for caregivers, educators, and community members to learn how to encourage and facilitate outdoor play.

Supportive Policies: Develop or adapt policies and tools that make outdoor play easier to include in programs and help manage risk.

Community Engagement: Involve families, caregivers, and community members to understand and support outdoor play and risk.

Eligible Activities

Projects must:

• Take place in rural Nova Scotia (within communities served by RCFNS)
• Support the objective of Free to Play
• Be open to the community they intend to serve
• Create lasting impact beyond one or two-day events

Examples of eligible activities include running, climbing, digging, building, splashing, rolling, imagining, pretending, playing with natural materials like sticks, mud, water, sand, grass, or snow, taking risks, testing ideas, and learning how to navigate challenge and uncertainty.

Eligible expenses 

Eligible expenses include: administrative costs directly related to the project, staff salaries and benefits for project staff, contractor or professional fees, materials and supplies, communications, training and workshops, evaluation, translation and interpretation, and local travel and transportation tied to the project.